Celtics’ Rajon Rondo unlikely to be ready for start of season

To be clear, there’s still no timetable for the return of
Boston Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo. However, the news of late hasn’t been
good. That includes A. Sherrod Blakely’s Sunday report in which the CSN New
England writer listed Rondo as unlikely to be available for the start of the
regular season.

This shouldn’t be extremely surprising considering Rondo’s
initial timeframe was six to nine months. The Celtics initially had him on a
very aggressive rehab program, but it was never a guarantee that he’d be back
for the start of the season.

Rondo’s recovery has gone well, as there haven’t been any
reported setbacks. Still, it seems like he’s a candidate to miss the entire
preseason and the start of the regular season. This seems to be OK by the
Celtics and new head coach Brad Stevens, who continues to tell reporters that
he doesn’t want Rondo to return until he is comfortable doing so.

Boston continues to hold off on placing a timeframe on Rondo’s
return, and has we’ve recently seen with stars such as Derrick Rose and Andrew Bynum this is likely the way to go. Especially considering the Celtics are
unlikely to have much to play for this season beyond growing its young nucleus.